Three ingredients, 15 minutes of your time (or even less if you buy pre-cut fresh cauliflower florets), and an oven are all you need to make this Roasted Pesto Cauliflower recipe happen. This recipe uses two of my favorite ingredients ““ pesto and cauliflower, and if you’ve never thought of putting this yummy little combo together before, you will after trying this recipe!
It’s no secret I LOVE cauliflower. In fact, you may be sick of seeing cauliflower recipes on my blog, and if so, leave a comment below and I’ll stop ““ unless I come up with a really good one, that is…Ha!
If you haven’t seen the other cauliflower recipes I have posted in the past, here are a few to get your mouth watering: Cheesy Cauliflower Bites, Marinated Roasted Vegetable Salad with Feta, and my newest favorite, Dirty Cauliflower Rice.
Pesto is probably my favorite (at least top 3!) sauce or condiment to use when it comes to adding quick flavor without a lot of added junk. Even if you don’t make your own (which is really easy to do, and a great way to preserve the flavor of fresh basil all year long ““ see how I make pesto here), purchased pesto is not a bad choice and usually has a pretty clean label (meaning, you’ll most likely recognize all the ingredients used to make it).
Because pesto has a good amount of fat on its own, and because I add a little additional olive oil to thin the pesto so it tosses more easily with the roasted cauliflower, I changed the method for roasting the cauliflower just a bit. Instead of my usual method (see that here), I line the pan with parchment paper and roast the cauliflower with no added fat. The parchment paper prevents sticking, and the cauliflower gets just as browned and toasty as when roasting it with oil. And don’t worry, the pesto adds enough flavor to the cauliflower so you don’t need to season it with salt and pepper before roasting, which makes it even easier!
Next time you want to switch up your roasted cauliflower a bit, try this Roasted Pesto Cauliflower. I know you’ll love it!
Roasted Pesto Cauliflower How-To Recipes:
Roast plain cauliflower florets in a parchment paper lined baking pan.
Here’s what my cauliflower looked like when it was finished roasting.
Mix basil pesto with olive oil to thin down the pesto – this helps it coat the cauliflower more easily.
Drizzle the roasted cauliflower with the pesto and toss to coat. That’s all there is to it!
- 1 head cauliflower (2 ¼ to 2 ½ pounds total)
- ¼ cup basil pesto
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Remove any leaves from the cauliflower head. Wash cauliflower. Cut out the core and cut the cauliflower head into 2-inch florets (you should have about 4 ½ cups). Arrange florets in a single layer in the parchment paper lined pan.
- Roast cauliflower, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes or until just tender and browned in spots, stirring once halfway through roasting. Transfer cauliflower to a serving bowl.
- In a small bowl stir together pesto and oil. Drizzle over cauliflower; toss to coat.
- about 3 ½ cups total (6 servings)
- 99 cals, 3 g pro, 5 g carb, 8 g fat, 3 mg cholesterol, 1 g sat fat, 2 g fiber, 113 mg sodium
